GPs miss out on funding as data reveal pharmacies delivered 1m flu jabs last year

By David Millett on the
8 November 2017

Community pharmacies delivered 60% more flu vaccinations in 2016/17 compared with the year before, and received payments worth over £8.6m for delivering the service across the season, official data show.

The increase means that GPs missed out on providing more than 350,000 additional flu vaccines that they could have provided in previous years.

Data from NHS Digital shows that in 2015/16, the year pharmacies could first provide the vaccine, they administered it to 595,467 people.

During the 2016/17 season, this grew up to just short of 1m patients – some 950,765. They were paid a total of over £8.6m in fees for providing the service.

This means practices missed out on funding potentially worth up to £9.3m, as they are paid £9.80 per dose given under the influenza vaccine DES, while pharmacists are paid £7.64 plus a £1.50 fees per dose, a total of £9.14.

Influenza vaccine

GP leaders have warned that allowing pharmacies to deliver the service has wreaked havoc with GP planning, as it becomes increasingly difficult to predict how many vaccines they will actually need.